Tuesday 4th - Friday 7th - Grade 5/6 Camp L E T T E R · Our grade 5/6 students will return today from their camp at Coastal Forest Lodge and ... They will complete the third of three

LINKLETTER

November 2018, Issue 22

Hello everyone and I hope you are excited for the final two weeks of the school year!

Summer has certainly begun in fine fashion.

We ran a hot day timetable today to keep the students out of the sun and heat during

peak times.

Our grade 5/6 students will return today from their camp at Coastal Forest Lodge and

everyone has thoroughly enjoyed the camp experience. The warm weather made the

beach experience all the more enjoyable. School camp is a wonderful opportunity for

students to learn and engage in all that camp has to offer. Adventure based activities

including surfing, learning with others, teamwork, personal responsibility, inter

personal skills, problem solving and of course having loads of FUN!

Thanks to the staff who have given of their time over the past four days.

Mrs. Rancie, Mrs. Elsaafin, Mrs. McIntosh, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Hannon, Miss. Macellari,

Kylie, Izzy. I greatly appreciate all the hard work that goes into providing such a rich

learning experience for our students.

This has been a fantastic way to end the school year, especially for our graduating year

6 students.

They will now turn their attention to the upcoming year 6 Graduation. This will be a

wonderful way to celebrate the primary school years and all that WHPS has offered

along the way. This will be held at the Watsonia RSL on Wednesday 19th December.

Our year 2 students are also looking forward to their camping experience which will be

next week at Lady Northcote Camp in Bacchus Marsh. Students will leave Tuesday

morning and stay overnight, returning on Wednesday 12th December.

As part of our schools’ camping program our year 1 students recently attended a dinner

at school and the Prep students enjoyed a breakfast in the GP room.

It was wonderful to see the 5/6 leaders helping and supporting this breakfast.

Many thanks to the staff whom helped out with these activities for our younger

students!

Hello everyone!Michael Kent

W W W . W A T S O N I A H E I G H T S P S . V I C . G O V . A U

E M A I L - W A T S O N I A . H E I G H T S . P S @ E D U M A I L . V I C . G O V . A U

6 1 H E N R Y S T R E E T ,

G R E E N S B O R O U G H 3 0 8 8

( 0 3 ) 9 4 3 5 4 6 1 7

IMPORTANT DATES

Friday 21st - Last Day of Term - 1pm finish

DECEMBERTuesday 4th - Friday 7th - Grade 5/6 Camp Wednesday 5th - Prep -2 Music Performance 12.30 - 1.30pm Thursday 6th - 2019 Prep Orientation #2 9.30 - 11.30am Friday 7th - Gr1/2 - Inquiry Open Day Showcase Monday 10th - Gr 3/4 Museum Excursion Tuesday 11th - Wednesday 12th - Gr 2 Camp Friday 14th - 2019 Prep Orientation #3 9.30 - 12pm Friday 14th - Family Fun Night - 5.30 - 8pm Wednesday 19th - Gr 6 Graduation



Amazing Year 1/2 learners!

I was amazed and blown away by the fantastic learning expo provided by the 1/2 team today. The students were showcasing their

curiosity projects to the various visiting audience members. We have parents, grandparents, friends, staff and students from

other classes all roaming through our year 1/2 classrooms to experience the brilliant array of projects on all things SPACE!

There were dioramas, posters, books, models, video montages, movies, photos, writing pieces, artworks, etc…all on display for

others to enjoy. The students articulated their learning extremely well and they clearly had done their research very well!!

Thanks to the students for teaching me knew things and also thanks to the parents, friends and staff whom helped to make this

a special celebration for the students.

N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8 I S S U E 2 2



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Success Teamwork Respect

Individuality Visionary

Effort !!!

Warmest regards,

Michael

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Fresh Breakfast

Our Fresh Friday breakfast club will have it’s final breakfast next Friday 14th December. Thanks to all those who have helped out in the

program over the year, especially to Mel Edmonds for her hard work and dedication to the program.

Reports

A reminder that the student reports will be published on Compass on Wednesday 19th December. Staff have been working extremely

hard on compiling these reports for your review, enjoyment and celebration! Thanks so much to Mrs. Gray who has worked tirelessly to

ensure this process is seamless for you all.

Family fun night

I hope you are planning on making it to our fun night next Friday! It promises (weather pending) to be a great night. We have some

music, food and fun planned. I encourage you to come along and enjoy some time with old and new friends.

We will have Filiz and 2 additional Camp Australia Staff members there be providing small art and craft activities and small

group games, along with some music, jumping castles and lots of social time.

This is scheduled from 5.30-8pm on Friday 14th December.

2019 support

As we do each year, we provide additional assistance to eligible families to receive CSEF (Camps, sports, excursions funds) support.

Eligible families can contact the office for further information and assistance. This avails money to support students and families to

offset the costs of these activities. Further to this families can access support to purchase uniform based on discussions with myself or

Mr. Ryan.

2019 Student leaders

Our current year 5 students have been busy with their applications for roles in the 2019 student leadership team. Whilst we encourage

all students to be leaders across our school, there are a number of highlighted and defined roles across the school. Our Junior School

Council is a group of empowered students whom regularly meet to voice the views of students at WHPS. Additionally we elect some

senior students to fulfil a range of leadership roles for 2019. These include:

- School Captains

- School Vice Captains

- House Captains

- ICT Captains

- Sustainability Captains

- Wellbeing Captains

- Library Captains

These positions will be announced prior to the end of the year.

Overdue Library books

We are asking that all library books are returned asap. Thank-you for helping us to ensure our resources are all available for our

students again next year.

IMP Matinee

Here at Watsonia Heights Primary School we provide IMP; an Instrumental Music Program where students in grade 3-6 receive tuition

to learn to play the guitar, drums, keyboard or flute. Last week these students performed in a delightful matinee for parents and

students to enjoy. We are very proud of all the students who performed in front of the school. It is a daunting task and they performed

admirably.

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We would like to hear from you…

A last reminder of the available survey that will help us review our parent teacher communication. This is to get your feedback on the

effectiveness on the current opportunities but also to hear whether you would like more structured opportunities to hear from your

child’s teacher.

If you could take the time to answer a few questions following the link below I would be most appreciative:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WHPS_ParentTeacher

2019 school fees

A reminder to ensure your 2019 school documentation has been returned to the school office. If you are yet to finalise your 2018

payments, please do so asap prior the end of the school year. A reminder that our processes encourage all payments to be finalised by

the end of term 3.

Policy

School council has recently approved the following policies for your review and feedback.

Please send any feedback to myself: [email protected]

Digital technologies

Health care needs

Personal property

Yard duty and supervision

Photographing, filming and recording students

School concludes for 2018

Wow! The 2018 school year is ending on Friday 21st December. We will have our final assembly at 1pm. I hope to see you all there to

farewell our year 6 students before we embark on the school holidays.

2019

Students have been participating in our internal transition program that helps to prepare them for the imminent time of transition. This

has included the 2019 Prep students coming to enjoy their Orientation sessions. They will complete the third of three sessions next

Friday.

Students will get to meet their 2019 teacher on Tuesday 18th from 9-11am.

In preparation for next year our staff will be involved in various planning meetings throughout the next two weeks. Providing a robust

and engaging curriculum requires lots of time, dedication and thought. These planning meeting will ensure we can be prepared for the

learning program to commence from the first day of 2019!

A reminder of the start dates for the 2019 school year.

Monday 28th January – Public Holiday

Tuesday 29th January – No school - Teacher’s Curriculum Day

Wednesday 30th January – No school - Teacher’s Curriculum Day

Thursday 31st January – Year 1-6 resume

Friday 1st February – Prep Students commence 9-1pm

Success Teamwork Respect Individuality Visionary Effort !!!

Warmest regards,

Michael

(Please note the misprint in the last newsletter of 1.30pm finish this is actually a 1pm Assembly!!!!)

Across The AP's Desk...

Happy Campers!

Our 5/6 students return today from what has been a very exciting

and eventful 5/6 Camp to Anglesea. I was lucky enough to spend

some time down there with the team and we had a great time

despite the weather being very hot late in the week.

As you can see from the attached photos much fun was had and

students enjoyed some unique experiences such as surfing and

body boarding. This was a great opportunity for our students and

staff to celebrate their year together. I'd like to acknowledge and

thank our staff who attended camp Mrs Rancie, Mrs McIntosh,

Mrs Elsaafin, Kylie, Izzy, Miss Macelari and Mr Hannon, They

provided 24 hour care to 73 students and happily got involved in

all activities with a smile, whilst often sleep deprived! We are

lucky to have such dedicated staff leaving their family to provide

wonderful experiences for our students. Student behaviour on the

whole was excellent also so well done to all involved!

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Tony Ryan

Reading Intervention Project:

I received the following information from the Latrobe University Research Team that have been working with a number of our

students regarding identifying reading difficulties and approaches to intervention.

"The research team from La Trobe University has now completed their assessments with Prep and Grade 1 children for their

literacy research. This research will help us better understand child development and how language and memory skills relate early

literacy skills.

The team has also concluded the video game based training program with selected children in Grades 3 to 6. Preliminary results

from the training program show that, on average, children’s reading accuracy, speed, and comprehension improved following the

2-weeks of training. All children made gains of 1 standard score or more in at least one aspect of reading. 70% of children

improved in reading accuracy, and 83% improved in reading speed and comprehension of text. Although further extensive

analyses are needed, these initial findings are promising and will help in the development of alternative options for reading

intervention.

Finally, the research team would like to thank all children who participated in the program, their parents, and the school staff

involved. Most importantly, feedback from the children who participated was very positive. Some of the results will be provided back

to teachers for educational purposes, where consent has been provided by parents/guardians."

This has been a successful program in our school during terms 3&4. I am confident that those students that participated have

gained reading benefits from the experience. I'd like to thank Jessica Peters, PHD candidate and the rest of her team for the work

they have done with our students. I also thank our parents for your willingness to have your children participate in this research

project.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Tony

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WHPS Student of the Week!Week Ending 23rd November

Jonathon PC For a great comparison piece about Jono and his friend Lachie. He drew and wrote about how they are the

same and different. Well done Jono!

Heath PC For always being such a kind and helpful class member. We are lucky to have you in Prep C!

Logan PG For using a variety of Maths strategies to solve problems. Great job!

Monica PG For adding more interest to your stories by adding dialogue. Well done Monica

Aidan PM For working hard to learn as many number bond facts as you can. Well done Aidan!

Isabel PM For her fantastically detailed non-fiction writing about the Roughened Darkling Beetle. Great work!

Ruby 1B For challenging herself in maths to solve 4-digit vertical addition sums with renaming.

Leila 1/2B For being a happy, caring and kind classmate. I love how you are beginning to make lots of new friends.

Cody 1/2C For being optimistic and always trying his best. Awesome work Cody!

Bailey 1/2H For his fantastic efforts exploring multiplication and division, using arrays, repeated addition and grouping to

solve equations!

Joanne 1/2HS For being a kind friend and including everyone.

Ryder 3/4D For setting a good example in class and for his fantastic writing.

Brodie 3/4M For doing such an amazing job editing and up-levelling his descriptive writing. Keep up the great work Brodie.

Lilly 3/4R For always saying focused on your work and for always helping others.

Ava 5R For working very hard and independently on her Inquiry project! Your self sustaining house is fantastic!

Sophie 5/6E For always demonstrating perseverance in everything she does. You truly are a superstar!

Ella 5/6M For always demonstrating the school values and being such a wonderful role model.

Miss Davidson For being so positive and also for being AMAZING!!!

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WHPS Student of the Week!Week Ending 30th November

Josh PC For being a great listener and having a go at each activity at our Mindful Monkey incursion. Great job Josh!

Ben PC For an awesome piece of writing about the centipede he found on his camping trip. Well done Ben!

Dhyan PG For working really well at school and at home to improve your reading. Well done Dhyan!

Dimitri PG For learning to read and understand so many words in english. Great job Dimitri!

Jasmine PM For putting so much effort into her Minibeast Mission and helping to create a Bugtopia!

Lucy PM For remaining so engaged and attentive during our Mindful Monkey incursion. You were a fantastic role model for our

school!

Beau 1B For demonstrating resilience and persistence when making your paper mache planet.

Michaela 1/2B For being a kind and caring friend. You have gone out of your way this week to make others feel happy at school. You

are a 1/2B superstar!

Tania 1/2C For being a caring and friendly member of the class. You are such a wonderful person!

Angus 1/2H For rising to challenges in class and always supporting and caring for your peers!

Dane 1/2HS For being a nice and caring person and doing his space project with care.

Zoe 3/4D For performing confidently during our Matinee today. You were great on the keyboard!

Darcie 3/4M For her sophisticated and captivating poem on the 'Magic Box'. Your thoughtful word choice was amazing!

Courtney 3/4R For having fabulous communication with her teachers and classmates and for making Miss Ruane laugh all the time.

All students in 5R For their passion and enthusiasm during their term 4 inquiry unit. It is fantastic to have team of curious minds.

Arin 5/6E For his focus and effort when learning how to calculate discount percentages in Maths.

Matthew 5/6M For a positive effort in the classroom towards his work.

Evie Library For creating her excellent book The Adventures of Super Bostock!! Well Done Evie and keep on writing!!!

Ryan, Harry

& Ari Mandarin For working in a team to apply their learning by creating a 7 day weather forecast in Mandarin and presenting it

in a terrifically produced video.

PrepN O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8 I S S U E 2 2



Ally Clarke, Bec Mead and Angela Gray

Mindful Monkey IncursionWith the year winding down and the transition jitters appearing, the Prep children were treated to a

Mindfulness incursion by the Mindful Monkey. Our new monkey friends taught us the importance of

being mindful and having periods of the day where we think about the now, and let go of any worries

we have been thinking about. Breathing Bobby chilled us out with various breathing techniques

including mountain breathing and elephant breathing. Emotional Eric helped the children feel and

name their emotions. He reminded us that all emotions are okay and that we can feel many emotions

throughout the day, and use mindfulness techniques to bring us back to a calm and happy state.

Sensory Sally showed us how to use our senses to take a moment, notice details about our

environment and let go of other worries. We ended the session by making Mindful Monkey puppets

that the children can use when they need to be mindful.

Prep

Camp



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Last Friday night we had the Grade 1 dinner! It was a lovely evening of food and games to celebrate what has been a wonderful year at school. The

students participated in some fun games and we enjoyed a feast of pizza, fruit and icy poles!

Grade 1 Dinner



I S S U E 2 2N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8

Mrs Macdonald and I would like to congratulate all the students from grade prep, grade one and grade two on their fabulous musical performances held on Wednesday 5th December! They did a splendid job, particularly some of our students who have performed only once or twice to a live audience. The students should be very proud of their efforts and achievements. A big thank you to Mrs Macdonald for all of the work she put into organising and preparing the students for their musical performances. Thank you also to Ms Lee for her help in managing the media during the performances. Finally, thank you to our parents and wider school community for coming to watch and for their support and encouragement. The children really treasure these moments where they are able to display their learning and development in music. Thank you for all your support.Ms Wagner

2018 P-2 Musical Perfomance



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Grade 1/2 Excursion Scienceworks

On Thursday the 1/2's went to Scienceworks. We visited the Planetarium where we learnt about night and day, space travel, the phases of the Moon and features of the lunar surface. We took a close-up look at the Sun, watched the effects of gravity, saw the Earth from space and watched meteors shoot across the night sky. We even watched Tycho's funny adventure to the moon!

The Think Ahead and Sports section were also lots of fun!



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Congratulations AMAZING WHPS Community!!

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The Community Links Team would like to send a HUGE thank you to everyone who contributed to helping make our Election Day fundraiser possible.

From our a wonderful Billboard designer to our energetic Flyer & Poster delivery assistants!

From our fabulous Baking Angels to the amazing Volunteers who set up and manned the stalls on the day!From our Car Boot Sale Coordinator to the Fantastic People who shared the event on social media!

From the Donation seekers to the Families who came past and purchased some treats!

You all contributed to making the event the HUGE success that it was! Even in the horrible Melbourne weather.

Thank you for your Time! and for your Can Do!....Get the Job Done!...Let's do it for our Great School! positive attitude!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Because without you all we could not have raised the sensational figure of $3,223 which will go towards our new play-ground space.

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1st/2nd Greensborough Scouts present their annualGingerbread Scout Tent Family Fun Day

Come and Join 1st/2nd Greensborough Scout Group’s exciting Christmas Gingerbread Tent Making

Workshop just in time for Christmas.Our Scout hall will be transformed into a Christmas gingerbread wonderland where you will be able to decorate your very own Gingerbread Scout Tent covered with lollies. The Scout kitchen will be fired up

with a delicious feast of hamburgers, sausages in bread, Devonshire teas and refreshments all available for purchase.

Your $20 Gingerbread Tent kit includes a Gingerbread Scout Tent and all the trimmings to make a beautiful and tasty Christmas treat to take home.

There is even an option to purchase our gift-wrapping kit to make it the perfect Christmas gift.Date: Sunday 9th December

Where: Greensborough Scout Hall, Willinda Park, Beatrix Street Greensborough (near the Athletics Track)To reserve your preferred time slot, go to www.trybooking.com/ZCVJ

For further information contact: Susie on 0414 526 689Disclaimer: Please note this activity contains gluten, egg, dairy and may contain traces of nuts.

Please note – access to bathrooms is only available by stairs.

Bakers Delight Greensborough - Dough Raiser Program Earn valuable funds for our great school while you shop

We are very excited to take part in the Dough Raiser program through Bakers Delight Greensborough. Bakers Delight is committed to helping their local schools and would like to offer our community the chance to raise funds for our Community Links Fundraiser for our new playground space. How will it work? Each time a member of our community purchases a bread product from Bakers Delight Greensborough, and mentions our school name, they will automatically earn WHPS 5% of their total purchase as much needed fund-raising dollars for our students. So roll down to Bakers Delight Greensborough and enjoy some yummy products while earning our great school some bread! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

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News From OHSC

It has been an amazing year!! In OSHC as the year is almost over, seeing children develop and learn new skills to be independent, having fun with their friends Being prepared and ready for OSHC next year:Parents / guardians please ensure the following· New parents register for OSHC at www.campaustralia.com.au· Current families update bookings register younger siblings· Medical action plans on Camp Australia template signed by your family doctor· Update information on enrolment forms by ringing customer service on 1300 105 343Medicare No:Ambulance No:Family doctor informationAddresses / Phone No:Additional authorised contacts From the OSHC Team Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year have a safe holiday!!! STEMWORKS

We believe that school holidays should be fun, but also have positive learning outcomes too. With our upcoming Holiday Club, STEAM Works, we have both of those covered! Here are a few of the activities that we’re looking forward to: Silly Science - Build It, Win It!- Solar Races Book now. To find out when these activities are on during the school holidays and join in the fun, visit: www.campaustralia.com.au/holidayclubs. Or you can call our friendly Customer Care Team on 1300 105 343 - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We look forward to seeing you and your family during the school holidays. The Camp Australia Team

Documents

Tuesday 4th - Friday 7th - Grade 5/6 Camp L E T T E R · Our grade 5/6 students will return today from their camp at Coastal Forest Lodge and ... They will complete the third of three